Pull the chestnuts out of the fire來自法國著名的寓言作家拉·封丹的《猴子與貓》。
cat's paw與Pull the chestnuts out of the fire是同源成語,但兩個成語無論在結構上或意義上都不相同,前者比喻充當別人的工具或爪牙,后者常用來表示to do sth dangerous for others的意思。
這個成語也作to pull sb's chestnuts,或者to put the chestnuts for sb.
eg:I had pulled the chestnuts out of the fire for him on several occasions and was unwilling to do it again.
They are pulling chestnuts out of the fire for the imperialists without knowing it
You can't make me your catspaw to pull your chestnuts out of the fire...